In Brief
Gurmail Singh was convicted of murder under Sections 302/149 IPC as a member of an unlawful assembly in a land dispute case where a man died from gunshot wounds. During the appeal, several co-accused died. Gurmail sought to downgrade the conviction to culpable homicide. The Supreme Court upheld the conviction, holding that: (1) membership in an unlawful assembly with a common object to commit murder attracts vicarious liability under Section 149 even without direct participation; (2) death of co-convicts during appeal does not eliminate this liability; (3) credible eyewitness testimony corroborated by medical evidence is sufficient, regardless of weapon recovery; and (4) no exception to Section 300 IPC applied to downgrade murder to culpable homicide.
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